David Sipher's World: Spring Trip 2016: Gulf Shores, Alabama to HOME

Tuesday, 4/26: 294 miles and camped at FDR State Park, Pine Mountain, Georgia

Camping area 5, Site 517. This is a quiet, beautiful loop with great sites.

We were on the road by 7:30 this morning. We traveled I-65 and I-85 most of the way. The weather was excellent, and the roads and traffic were great. Traffic was very light. FDR State Park is a beautiful wooded park, with large sites, especially loop 5. The Georgia State Park system is nice in that you can make reservations, but the reservation is not site specific. That way you can pick out your own site. That's the main reason we tried to arrive early. This would be a great park to come back to and stay longer.

Wednesday, 4/27: Still at Pine Mountain. This morning we visited FDR's Little White House in nearby Warm Springs. This was a really interesting stop. So much history in a small and simply decorated cabin that was FDR's get away. In fact, he died here. There is also a small museum that had Roosevelt artifacts, including the car he had specially built that he could drive using only his hands.

We also stopped at a mountain overlook called Dowdell’s Knob. This was Roosevelt's favorite picnic spot where he could relax. In fact, he would often ask his Secret Service Agents to wait a distance away so he could contemplate alone. The view from this knob is amazing..

We went back to the campers for lunch, and then went to visit Callaway Gardens. Callaway is a HUGE resort. The Azalea Gardens are a major attraction, but unfortunately, most of the blooms had gone by. However, the Butterfly Center was fabulous.

We ended the day by grilling steaks for dinner.

Thursday, 4/28: 265 miles and camped at the Asheville West KOA, Candler, NC

Pull through Site F-5

Sue and Al, next to us, on F-4

We had a reasonably short drive today. It was another sunny and 75 degree day. The only real excitement was driving through Atlanta. There is really no easy way to avoid Atlanta. Not only is it a big and busy city, Interstates 85 and 75 merge and are one big seven lane (and sometimes 8 or 9 lanes) highway that bisects the city. Even the I-285 bypass is busy. Based on traffic reports we chose to drive straight through. While there was huge amounts of traffic, it was usually slow, only going 30 MPH os so because of the congestion. All in all, it wasn't as bad as we had anticipated.

The KOA here has nice pull thru sites. The only downside is that we picked up a bunch of ticks. Both Judy and I had to pull ticks off us. I made the mistake of walking the dogs through a grassy field, and I'm guessing that's where we picked them up.

Friday, 4/29: Still in Asheville. Today we visited the amazing Biltmore Estate. The estate is the creation of George Vanderbilt. The mansion is huge!! The gardens were designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, who also designed Central Park in New York City. The azalea blooms were beautiful.

We found a Brew Pub for dinner. The Wicked Weed Brewing Company was a busy, busy place. Both the food and beer were excellent.

Saturday, 4/30 and Sunday, 5/1: 398 miles and parked at the home of Matt and Jaime Sipher.

Saturday morning We parted ways with our camping buddies. Judy and I are heading to Matt and Jaime's home in West Virginia while Sue and Al are heading back to Gouverneur. We have had a great two weeks traveling with them.

As usual, we have a great time hanging out with Matt, Jaime and the the grandkids. We took them out for dinner at Outback Steakhouse to celebrate their upcoming wedding anniversary. I helped Matt with building a fireproof surround for his fireplace, while Judy entertained the kids.